A common problem among golfers is the slice in which the golf ball is improperly hit and goes off at an unwanted angle. Slices and hooks are the result of improper swing path, club face position and shaft angle at impact. Tension in the neck and shoulders during the take-away will cause the golfer to bring back the club out of sequence and off swing plane. Improper club position at the top of the backswing forces the golfer to bring the club down and through impact in an “outside to inside” or “inside to outside’ path resulting in either a slice or a hook.
One of the most common swing flaws of this genre is aptly named the “flying elbow.” The flying elbow resembles a baseball swing movement, in that the elbow is pulled up and away from the torso and, at the top of the backswing, is set parallel to the ground rather than perpendicular. The lead shoulder dips toward the ground forcing the golfer's hips and torso into an incorrect, forward leaning position. This in turn causes the golfer to push the club away from the body and out of the proper swing path during the downswing, resulting in an incorrect club face position and shaft angle at impact.
Numerous ways to control the slice have been proposed (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,204,767; 4,940,237; 4,058,852; 4,743,028; 4,960,280; 4,892,317; 5,295,690; and 4,691,924). However, none of those are easy to use by an individual golfer. Moreover, they look strange, and many golfers would be embarrassed to use them on the golf practice range. Golfers may give up on them before their slice or hook is corrected, or they may not get them out of storage when the problem recurs, as it frequently does.